Means for sampling and checking miners&#39; coal.



. E. RAMSY MEANS ron sAMLING AND cHEcmNG mmens' com. *'APPLCATUN FILED APR- 6, 15H4. v l. l 9 l ,227. Paented July 18, *1916lv w l A i I I. @wm/a Evi/kie ,MW

E. RAMSAY.

MEANS FoR SAMPLINGAND cH-ECKING MINERS' com..

APPLlcAnoH mso APR. 6. 1914.' 4

Patente-ad July 18, i916.

s anims-anim 2 ,.LRAMSAY.

MEANS FOR -SAMPLING ANDv CHECKING MINEBS COAL.

i APPLxcATloH r|LEu.APR.e.1s|/s.

a sums-sues? a`.

lf. "1x

@Ef/9- ,es

Patented Ju1y18, 1916.

j narran srarns ERSKINE RAMSAY, OF BIRMINGHAM,'ALABAMA.

Parana naaien f MEANS Fon sai/@LING AND cHEeKNG Mamans COAL.

application alec apra e,

To all yw/'tom it may concern l certain new andiuseful lmprovements in Means for Sampling and Checking Miners Coal, of which the-following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for sampling and checking miners" coal or other mineral output sothat an accurate record can he kept of the character and quality of the mineral loaded by each miner, which record will serve as a check on the mineral loaded int 'a given railroad car or like container and also to indicate to the operator the character of his total output and what parts of his mine afre producing an inferior grade of mineral, orshowing bad results so that he can change his operations at such points.

The most important object of my 1nvention is to hfurnish so accurate ay record of the. duality of each minesoutput that a vfair and indisputahlebasis can be arrived at for* penalizing or awarding the miner, and this is particularly'advantageous in coal mining Where the percentages of slate and of slack coalineach car or the large proportion of all cars should be ascertained in a. simple4 and effective manner to establish the aven age grade of each miners output.

The present system in force 1s lto select I'from time to time at random, a car of coal,

and have this entire car picked by hand, and the percentage or amount of slate lin the car determined, that one car being regarded as the average of the particular miners output until another' car is picked.. By this sys tem, an average of say 1% of the total mine cars loaded by each miner, is picked by hand, and a fixed penalty is assessed 'for a certain amount of slate. Many miners figure that they can ignore the slate examinations'and load more slate than they should, with the idea that the reduced amount of work and carenecessary in loading such inlferior coal or product, will more than compensate them for the penalty which mayv come, say on an average, once a month." ,This system is therefore too uncertain in its operation, it being obvious that one car selected at long intervals cannot give a truly average sample oall cars loaded by the miner, for specimen cars selected at different Specification of Letters Patent.

' rammen, .nay is, 1ere,

1914. seria1No.s3o,o92. y l

times in the day will generally showditerent percentagesv of slate, slack f and lump.

My invention contemplates taking a daily;

record with reference Ato each miners output, by devlsmg a mechanical sampling `mechanism adapted tov take a fair average sample' of each car of coal as it is dumped and these samples, instead of Whole cars of co `l, are

screened, and the slate'"sepa1ated ab" or"otherwise,'to obtain a truly averag i ple and record .as to slate, slack and lump of y -belingthe sample when there is occasion to;

preserve it to co'irespond with thecarche'ck number; and screening and separating `this comparatively sniall sample, and tahulating the resulting vpercentages of slate, slack and lump, on a tally sheet, prettymuch 'as the 'Weight record ot each mmers coal-is nowv v kept. It will' be evident that by this'means the time and labor required for thepickingp.y i

of the sample from one car of coal of one? ton, according to the present practice,l willy be suflicient to pick thesamples of twenty, cars, based" on a hundred pound sample, or 7 Screen-v I ing the slack out and only hand-'picking' the` portionv which passes over'the screen'will. even increase the pickers capacity beyondy these figures. The mechanism for taking sixty samples for a three ton car.

the 'samples' should preferably be y placed so as to take thegsample asthe car is dumped, and in order to avoid the possibility "of the mine cars being loaded ih 'a special ininnerer by placing the slate in a part 'of the oar not possible to sample, so as to'eiect the'grade i of the sample, the samplingl mechanism should be adjustable 'soas to easily and-read 1,

ilytake the sample' from any'partf eimllfak car, that is, at any point transversely dftlie stream of coal, and at vany timeduringjtheunloading ,or dumping of the car." i

I' consider it advisable to take the sample Without diverting or interruptingrthe direct flow-ofl the cars contents as dumped andas far as possible have designed my sampling ropa roo i loaded on each railway car, and make such miners responsible for any 'complaints received from customers as to the quality-.of

product furnished.

The samplereceiving hopper can be adaptedto deliver the samples received successively to different chutes havingd a port- Y'ableor stationary. screen thereat so that the delay incident to the screening operation need not interfere with the rapid sampling of the coal as dumped from, the mine cars in the usual Way.

Myv invention, though available for sampling other minerals, has been illustrated as 'adapted to -sample the output of a coal mine, and while I do not `wishtolimit )ny invention to the particularembodiment shown, yet there are many novel features of construction which are 'shown in ,the accompanying drawings, and these form apart of my present invention and are hereinafter more fully described vand claimed.

In the drawings :-'-Figure 1 is a front ele'- .vation'of a tipple equipped with my improved sampling'mechanism shown in front elevation with the mechanism, in position'to ltake a sample.

mechanism. Fig. 3 .is atop plan viewof the sampling mechanism. Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectionalyiew taken on` the line Y--Y ofFig. 3. 'Fig 5 is a detail view showing the sampler in. retracted and inverted position dumping its contents into the hopper. Fig. 6 is a ,view taken on the line X.-X of Fig. 5, showing the screen in cross sectionf Fig; 7 illustratesa multi-compartment sami ple" receiver, elach compartment being intended to deliver the sample deposited within itupon a screen notshown in this View but which is similar to that shown in use with the form shown in Fig. 6.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.'

.A I have illustrated my invention as' adapted rfor sampling coal but lit will be understood that it .is equally available for other materials. The drawings show' a standard form of tipple house 1 having ooring 2 and sup' portedon uprights 3, 4f and 5. The flooring sup orts .tracks on vwhich' coal cars' lare run tqjgt e tipple'and there dump .theircontents Fig'. 2 is a vertical longitndi-- nal central section through the sampling.

into a chute 7, by means of which it is con.- ducted to a railroad car or other suitable container. The chute 7 can be of any suitable construction, Apreferably-one that will vnot break up the coal or interfere with its inder'or drum which is strong, light and'.

rigid. In its rear end ,is fastened a cross head 10 to which a piston rod 11 is made fast. The forward end of the tubular body is closed by a header 12, and beyond this header a portion of the drum projects and is Cut away overhead to form an elongated scoop-shaped bucket or receptacle 13 which is preferably left openat its outer end. The

, side wall of the bucketis curved incrossscction like the body and forms a continuation -of the latter so that Ithe bucket can be .withdrawn through the opening in the side wall ofthe chute through which the tubular Vbody 9 passes. A hopper 14 is mounted adjacent Ito the' chute wall and is provided with a for- Ward portion which projects slightly through the side wall of the lchute and has a rear wall provided with an opening through which the body 9 passes. The portion 15 of the hopper is protected overhead by a baille or defiector plate 16 which prevents the coal dropping thereinto iafterthe bucket 13 has been withdrawn into the position shown in Fig. 5. The body 9 is supported and guided at its forward en d `by grooved rollers 17 which are disposed above and below it and are mounted on suitable axes 1 8 journaled in the sidewalls ofthe hopper 14. Additional roller guides and supports are provided to receive the body when retracted and they comprise similar grooved rollers 17` which are mounted on brackets 19 made fast to the frame work of the tipple. These brackets 19 are spaced so that the'body is supported on two or'more rollers in all of its operatingr positions and it'is confined'by these rollers i able brackets 22 to eye beams 23 made fasttothe tipple structure.

anda smaller pipe 25 leading therefrom at 'each end are connected to each end of the -valve 26 having operating connections 27 .The smaller pipes 25j\lead to l the entre; ,a

The large pipe 24 ends of the cylinder and each larger pipe 24 opens therein at a closed by the pist-on This gives me a slow starting movement point whe-re it will be and va cushioned vstop for the piston and sampler. A drainv pipe 25a is suitablyl connected to each pipe 2o and to a coupling in the exhaust pipe 25h. In order to invert the bucket and discharge its contents into the hopper 14, it is necessary to prevent the ro` tation ofthe body 9 until. bucket'13 has been withdrawninto position above the hopper and then' the bucket 'should be inverted as it is drawn transversely 4across the hopper. As a simple and eiiective y,means to accomplish this end I provide' on each side of the'body 9 a guide rod 29 supported atl its left hand end by the brackets19'to Whichthey are connected by the bolts or'studs 33. `These two rods extend in horizontal para-llelismV until they reach a point close Vto the headA of the cylinder 2l where each is given a half lon each side of aroller,

y spiral turn, the near rod as shown inFig. 3 ybeing twisted over and the far rod under,

, shown in Figli.

` When the sample bucket 13 is .projected yinto the path of the `falling coal or mineral to take a sample,

which is its position in 1Figs l to 3, the piston 20 stands Aat the left 9 are drawn to the right, the

' lightly and freelybetween thefguide rolls `its rolls 32 with the rods 29. A ever, the bucket 13 has moved hand end oi the cylinder.

If the, operator,

by the mechanism 2,7, admits steam to move the piston to the right, 4the bucket and body latter running 17 and being prevented from turning about its longitudinal axisby' thejengagement of 1`When, howinto position over the hopper 14, the rollers'32engage the spiral portions of the rods `and'infollowing them give the bucket a half revolution to invert it and dump its contents into hopper 14.' It will be noted that the bucket travels bata small distance lengthwise .while the rollers are in engagement with the spiral portion of the guide rodsso that in the/short distance it traverses abm'e the hoppery itis caused to completely invert and -dunip its contents. As the bucket is withdrawn through' the opening in thev wall 8 Aof the chute, the, latter will scrape off projecting material or large lumps which are free to at an end of its stroke.

ments. of an eccentr1c59 and an eccentric-fred 60` fall off the outer-end of the bucket., When steam is admitted to the right hand end 'of cylinder 21 to advance thesampling mechanism into position to receive material, the.

spiral rods and rolls restore the bucket to upright position before it .clears the over-V head shield 16, thereby disposing it in position to take its sample. The control mecha;-4 nism for thel cylinder 21 permits. the operator to arrest the sample taking bucket 13 at any position rin its transverse vtravel across the Stream of mmeral as 1t falls from the car, to permit the sample to be taken at dif ferent points, and also the operator can time the taking of his sample `so as to collectv it from the top` or bottom of the car` dumped.

Thiscontrol .of the mannerv ofttaking ythe sample makes it useless for the miner to pttempt` to load his car in any special manner with a 'view to aiiecting the average grade lof `thesample taken therefrom )which he might readily do if a small.y sample were always taken at the same point and time. The hopperl 14 is. provided at its'bottom withfagate 36 hinged at 37 and adapted vto swing downwardly and permit the` discharge ofthe hopper contentsinto la vertiealchute 38. .The gate36 yhas connected to it anop-y @rating handle 39 provided withavcounterweight 4 0' which normally holds the gate closed, there being a slot provided, in the wall of the chute for the passage ofthe stem .39;- Attached to the side walls ofthe chute by yrivets or bolts arehorizontal arms 41to the ends of which are pivoted'depending links 42 and 43, which, at their lower ends, are pivotally connected to'straps44 attached toa shaking screen v45. This screen has an unperforated bottom portion 46 positioned immediately under the chute 38 which-has its right hand lower end (Fig. 2) cut away and replaced by a swinging gate 47 hinged at 4 8' and provided with a counterweightedf h'"ndle 49 and raking teeth This gate is normally urged inwardly by the counter weight 'and acts to prevent too rapid feeding of the mineral from the unperforated to-the perforated portion of the screen bottom. A' 'i double Ahopper is mounted below the screen having ay compartment 50 under 4the screen for receiving the yfine: screened mineral or -sla-ckcoal and having a compartment 51 into which the lumps fall. A wing -valve 52,operated by a handle 53, controls 'the discharge of material from the compartment 50, anda gate 54, hinged to the hopper at 55 and provided with a. counterweighted: arm 56,

controls the discharge of materialV from come partment 51; Preferably, separate sample boxes 57 and 58 are provided to receive the material from the two hopper "compartf The screen is oscillated by' means which is pivoted to lugs or ears `61 beneath the screen. `any other suitable oscillating mechanism or .supporting means for the screen may be provided and a single hopper may be' substituted for the double hopper shown. Also, if desired, the screening of the samples taken can be dispensed with and the sample delivered directly from hopper or the buclt 13 into a suitable sample receiving box.

Itibeing important, for my purposes, to identify the sample taken', it will be seen, by reference to Fig. 1, that the mine car has a numbered check 62 therein and that the Sample boxes 57 and 58 are provided with checks (53. similarly marked or numbered -to Videntify the samples as taken .from a certain in the sample boites 574 and 58 4and the coal in either or both boxes can be hand picked,

if desired, to determine thepercentage of slate in the coal or this may be determined by a sink or float test or in any other p-ractical or suitable'manner. The records kept from the tests will show accurately the condition of the coal or mineral mined by each miner and by taking a sample of all the cars or a large percentage of the cars, the average grading is fair to the miner and forms an accurate basis for the operator to determine not only how the coal or mineral from vthe Whole mine' is running but also what parts of the-mine are showing up worst,

this latter conclusion being deducible froma consideration of the grade of coal mined by the miners at work in different parts of the mine.4 y

` In adapting my invention to take samples of all or a great majority of the cars loaded in the mine, it is necessary to take into consideration the fact that these cars usually reach the tipple in trains of `from five-to ten cars. In order to facilitate the taking of samples without unnecessarily interfering with the screening process, as hereinbefore described, I have conceived the idea of providing a plurality of chutes 38", 38" (Fig. 7)

Which are similar to the chute 38 and which .is adapted' to receive a samplev from a com- .mon hopper 14, which in this construction discharges into a compartment .disposed above the admission valves 36 for the vchutes and-is provided with a valve 67'eontrolled by a handle' 68 and disposed abovevthe partition 66 which separates the vchutes 38a and 38". By shifting the valve the samples taken from two successive cars can be direct.- ed to different screens and after opening the valves 3G so'as to passthe material into the lower part of the'chutes, these valves can be closed and samples taken of two more cars. In this manner samples can be taken of four cars as quickly as the lattercan be weighed and dumped, and obviously enough separate chutes can be provided in this manner to take care of all the cars of an ordinary trip.

The screening ofv the several samples can then take place leisurely in the interval between trips.

Other means may be provided for4 diverting a suicient portion of the contents of the car, as dumped, to form an average sample, but I consider it preferable to take the sample without having to handle or substantially interfere with the main body of material dumped from the car. f

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a sampling mechanism, in combina-- tion, a tipple for mine cars, manually .and freely controllable means to catch 'a sample 'of any desired portion of the falling material from a mine car, and means to receive the sample from said catching means and grade it for size, substantially as described.

2. In a mechanism for samplingcar loads of material, in combination, a car dump, a samplecollecting means'to catch a part of the falling material and withdraw it from said chute, and means to manually and freely manipulate said means to vary at will the point at which said sample is taken.

4 3. In a mechanism for sampling car loads ofv material, in combination, a car dump, means to collect a sample of the material discharged by each ca-r over said dump, a.

multiple compartment receptacle, selective 'means to divert the sample into any desired compartment of said receptacle, and means to treat the samples collected in said several compartments separately.

4. In a sampling mechanism, in combination, means for dumping mine cars, sample catching means controllable to act on di'erent parts of the material dumped from the mine car, and means to receive the sample from the catching means and grade .it ior size. 1

5. In a-m'echanism for sampling car loads.'

of material, in combination, cars having designating indicia, means tocollect 'a sampleV of the material dumped from the, car, a chute to receive the sample, a screening means onto which the'chute discharges the sample, and sample containers adapted toy be marked to designate the car from which the samples are taken and to keep separate the -screened from the unscreenedmaterial.

Gylin a samplingmecha'nism, a chute for .the material to 'be sampled, a sample collectmeiner ingsr bucket narrower tnan the chute, means to move saidbucket transversely across the width otl the chute and into the path of difliercnt portions oic the nioving material therein, saniL means being manually controllable, and means to lmnp the contents oi the bucket when withdrawn from 'the chute., subslantiallygas described.

7. ln a mechanism oi' the character described, a chute, a tubular body ,nionnted for reciprocation transversely across the width of the chut-c, a sample bucket carried by the end of said body and adapted to collect a sample of the material in the chute, and mains to discharge the contents from said bucket when withdrawn hy said body from position over the chute. i

In a mechanism ofthe character described, in combination, a chate having an opening in a side wall thereof', a tubular ,hotly mounted for reciprocation through said openinfcr and transversely of the chute, a sample collecting bucket carried at the forwaigd end ot said body and adapted to be withdrawn with it through said opening in the chute, manually controlled means to reciprocate the body, a hopper, andT means to discharge the contents of thc buckct'into the hopper after withdrawing saine from the chute, substantially as described,

9. In a mechanism oi the character dc scribed, in combinatisni, a` chute having an opening in its side Wall, a bucket to be inserted through said opening and adjnsied crosswise of manually controlled means to reciprocate the bnclret and automatically discharge its contents into said hopper.

l0. in a mechanism oi' the character described, a sample collector formed by a tubuiar body having its end portion ent away and inclosed to forni an open topped bucket open at its enter end, a chose for the falling material, there being an opening in the chute through which said body and bucket are adapted to'be passed, means to guide said body, and means to reciprocate it' and invert it, substantially as described.

Sri. In combination, chiite having an opening iny a wall thereof, a round bucket carrier haring a sample collecting bucket at one end and having substantially the dia1neter oi the carrier, and means to move the ada :otcd i the chute, a hopper, and

Vtarn it about its axis when the bucket clears and means to catch the sample the chate, V fromthe bucket, substantially as discharged described.

1.2. In combination, a car dump, a. chute adjacent thereto, a sample collector, means for catching a portion of the contents or cars passing over said dump and adapted to deliver each sample into said chute, a plurality of pockets for said chute, selective incans to direct the sample to the desired pocket, a valve for each pocket, and screening means onto which said pockets severally discharge their contents, substantially as described.

13. In combination, a tipple, a chute, a reciprocatory sample taking mechanism adapted 'to be projected into the path of material in said chute, a hopper into which said mechanism automatically deposits the sarnple, a valve which controls the discharge of the sample from said hopper, movable containers adapted to receive the sample from said hopper, and means to manually control the reciprocation of said mechanism and the operation of said valve from a common point, substantially as described.

14. l'n combination, a chute having a side i opening', a tubular carrier, roiler guides to support said carrier 'in position to project through said opening, means toeeciprocate said carrier, an open topped bucket on the end of said carrifer, and spiral guide means which engage the carrier and automatically turn it about its axis to invert the bucket after the latter has been Withdrawn from thi chute.

15. In a sample talring'mechanisrn, a chate havin 'an opening, a. reciprocatory carrier, and a scoop-shaped bucket mounted on said carrier and open at its top and outer end, which bucket is adapted to be drawn out through said opening and dumped, substantially as described. Y I

in testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence ot' two witnesses.

ERSKNE RAMSAY. 

